


what is duty (if not the feeling of a newborn in your arms)

by milliemoo301



Category: Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: Baby Fic, F/M, Family Feels, Fluff, my first fic whattup, the author can''t write, this is purely self indulgent i needed some sansa havin a good time with jb babies, this sucks tho i aint promising anything
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-01
Updated: 2019-06-01
Packaged: 2020-04-05 20:53:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,648
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19048204
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/milliemoo301/pseuds/milliemoo301
Summary: Jaime and Brienne have a son.Or, how Sansa gains a new member of her pack.





	what is duty (if not the feeling of a newborn in your arms)

**Author's Note:**

> so!!!! this is my first and probably only fic!!! it's a headcanon im taking way too far. Can't find the fic you want? write it yourself!!! but terribly. anyway enjoy this shit there's not much jb its just sansa. lmao. 
> 
> (title from ya boy Aemon)
> 
> find me on tumblr @briexnneoftarth

Sansa crept into the chambers, which were warm from the fire and the constant flurry of midwives and healers. At her entrance, everyone quickly did a quick curtsy or bow, murmurs of "My queen" or "Your Grace" punctuating the otherwise cozy and quiet atmosphere. Sansa nodded at them. She looked towards the bed, where a flushed and sweaty but triumphant Brienne lied in her husband's arms. He whispered encouraging words into her ear, pressed kisses onto her temple. Both gazed rather misty-eyed at the bundle Brienne held, in a blanket Sansa notices is of her own hand, made a few months prior. Brienne looks up with those love filled eyes, noticing Sansa standing there. "Oh! M-my lady, we weren't aware you'd be making a visit, otherwise I would've pu-" she stammers, turning a darker shade of red. Sansa dismissed her worries with an a wave of her hand.

"Nonsense, Brienne. I was rather curious to see what all the fuss is about. Congratulations on your son. I hear he's a fine boy." Sansa said, assuredly.

Brienne beams. "His name is Arthur," she says, her gaze flicking upwards towards her husband. He grins back with pride, green eyes alight with a joy Sansa had never known possible from him.

"Would you like to hold him?" Brienne inquired softly, shifting the babe in her arms towards Sansa. Sansa moved closer to the bed, where the small bundle is carefully transferred into her hesitant arms. She vaguely remembers holding her own siblings, but those memories are as distant as the echo of springtime flowers in the winter snow. She remembers how tiny they were, not unlike the one she currently holds. She looks down at the babe, who snuffles in his slumber, tiny fingers and toes wriggling. Sansa runs a single finger down his pink cheek, a small smile on her lips. He was warm and his skin feels like silk. He clasped the finger she offered  with his tiny, delicate hand, mouth forming a contented 'o'. He opened his eyes then, and Arthur looks up at Sansa with the most innocent blue eyes she has ever seen.

 _So this is what love is_ , Sansa thinks.

She stays like that for what feels like a century, gently caressing his smooth, downy soft hair and pressing chaste kisses onto his forehead. The room shifts around her, the midwives bidding the family goodnight, Sansa only half hearing Jaime coaxing his wife into a clean shift or the maester giving lady-knight a final check. Before she knows it, it is time to give the baby back so the family can sleep. "You did a fine job, both of you," Sansa says, watching as a maid lowers the babe into his cradle. Jaime tucks he furs around Brienne even tighter, earning a playful swat on the arm. She was already starting to doze, finally tiring out after a long and painful labor.  Sansa rises from the edge of the bed, her eyes held steady on the new parents as she exits.

 _I will protect him as Lady Brienne has protected me_ , Sansa vowed.

 

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Arthur, over the next few days, is the talk on the castle. Winterfell was in need of a bit of cheer following the war, and babies are something everyone can mutually agree to fuss over. Even the coronation for the new Queen in the North had less pomp.

Sansa herself is a frequent visitor, dropping by between endless meetings and councils to coo at the infant. She brings with her endless amounts of hand embroidered baby clothes, tiny starbursts and lions and the occasional wolf woven into cloth Lady Catelyn herself used. While unsure of her own future regarding children, Sansa was sure this one would be treated as a prince regardless of his station. Brienne, still recovering from the difficult birth, at first tries to assure Sansa that she had already done enough, giving their family a home and all, but the young woman was _determined_   to spoil the boy. 

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One night, while Jaime sparred with the young squires, the Queen joined Brienne for dinner in her chambers. It was a comfortable and amiable evening- dinner with Brienne was something Sansa would seek out long after the Boltons were gone, her sworn sword the only thing that could ease away the ghosts she felt roaming the halls. She occasionally joined Brienne and Jaime for dinner right after the war, but with so much to do regarding the North, dinners like that were few and far between. And now, while they ate and made light chatter over the sleeping newborn at his mother's breast, Sansa realized how much she cherished the woman who was at her side all those years, and how much she adored the boy in her arms. The baby yawned, not unlike a lion's roar, and Brienne chuckled. 

"My little lion boy," she murmured. 

"A wolf too," Sansa said, softly, memories of Theon and Robb playing with Rickon suddenly replaying in her mind. _This boy would never know the horrors of war, the feeling of your family and home being ripped from you. I won't allow it_ , she thought fiercely. 

"A wolf too, then," Brienne agreed, reaching over to pat her hand.

They sat there, watching the newborn sleep. The first sign of spring after a grueling winter. 

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A few months after the birth, Brienne returned to her post as Lady Commander of the Queensguard, her husband alongside her. While they managed troops and oversaw training, Arthur was left in the care of numerous nurses and nannies around the castle.

Sansa often sought brief sanctuary from the constant demands of ruling in the nursery- she found out soon enough Queens were certainly not a normal sight, especially not plucking babies out of cribs and playing with them. Sansa didn't care about the scandalized look on the women's faces when she appeared at random. All she cared about were the gummy smiles Arthur would give her when he saw her, or the way he'd reach for her. It was an odd sight, the Queen in the North on her stomach gnawing on a baby's tummy, delighting in his contagious giggles.

"I love you! Yes I do!" Sansa cooed, grinning at the infant and tickling his little feet. People in the castle had started to whisper about her soft spot for the little one- her entire composure changed when she was around him, and she was always making excuses to see him. Even Brienne herself was surprised by their bond, given that while she loved Sansa as if she were her own blood, she didn't expect her to take so strongly to her child. Especially since Sansa wasn't exactly... fond of his father. When asked about it, her only reply was "He's part of the pack."

 _A little wolf, indeed_ , mused Brienne. _Son of the lion that tried to kill the Starks, and one of them nonetheless_. 

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Say Pa-Pa Arthur. Yes, Papa!" Jaime exclaimed, making ridiculous faces at the baby. In in his six moons, the babe had grown into a plump little cherub with a halo of golden curls. Brienne smiled over at her husband. They were in a meeting- Sansa let her Lady Commander bring the baby into council gatherings, mostly just so she could steal glimpses of the infant. The lords of the North, at first, were perturbed, saying how improper it was for a child to be in the room while discussing important matters of state- but with one steely glance from the queen, they were reduced to grumbles.

Which led them to their current gathering, a discussion on rebuilding parts of Winterfell post the Long Night. The lords shifted uncomfortably at the (rather loud) sound of the _Kingslayer_ playing with a bloody _baby_. Brienne had to bite back a grin as she realized Jaime was probably doing it on purpose, the bastard. She certainly couldn't control her grin as she watched her son crawl over to the Queen, who took him into her lap wordlessly all while maintaining her conversation. 

 _How did our family get so lucky_ , Brienne wondered. 

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

One day, shortly after his second nameday, Arthur disappeared, his parents having lost sight of him while making conversation in the great hall. 

"Jaime, how in the _seven hells_ did you manage to _lose_ an _infant_?" Brienne seethed, glaring at her husband. 

"I told you, wench, he was between my legs mere moments ago!'

Sansa observed the scene before her, wryly taking a sip from her goblet. _The two_ , she thought, shaking her head. Suddenly, she felt a tug at her dress- looking down, she saw the boy in question, giving her one of his infamously irresistibly toothy smiles. "Sansy!" He squealed. As she bent down to his level, she felt him press something sticky and crumbly into her palm. Upon inspecting it, she realized it was a lemon cake, swiped from the leftover pile from the previous night.

"Did you pay a visit to the kitchen, little wolf?" Sansa asked. The boy grinned even wider. 

Sansa hoisted him up, standing. "Let's go tell the cooks to prepare even more for tonight's dinner. Wouldn't you like that, my love?" She asked, and he nodded vigorously, giggling. As she walked towards the kitchen, she noticed his parents were still bickering. Smiling to herself, she told him "Let's see how much trouble you and I can get into while your parents still think you're missing." She remembered her and Arya doing the same thing, or how'd she sneak Bran an extra bit of pie and they'd gather in his rooms, whispering and laughing. 

The ghost of her siblings and their golden childhood haunted the halls, but that darkness was easily chased away when she held Arthur. The son of her knight, yet family all the same.

Sansa got what she wanted most as a girl-someone to love.

the end. 

**Author's Note:**

> hope you like that lol. I babysit a lot and so i just projected how much i love those kids onto sansa.  
> theres a lot of mistakes but its midnight when i post this so who cares


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